Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Tuesday 15th December - Too Posh for Pockets

When I was searching for muff images for these posts I found there were some muffs that deserved a post of their own. These weren't paintings but photographs where the muff inferred some status on the owner. These are high-class muffs (not a recommended Google search), these are celebrity muffs (ditto) and muffs that demand attention (and again)...

Lillie Langtry (c.1882)

Not a woman who was actually short of a photo or two, Lillie Langtry was a glamorous celebrity of the Victorian and Edwardian era. An actress, later a producer, and royal 'confidant', Miss Langtry was the subject of much public and media interest and her clothes were much copied and commented on. I especially like this dress/coat and matching muff ensemble. Here's the same outfit from the bustle-side of business...

Yes, that'll do me. Anyway, the matching accessory, in this case a fabric and fur muff, lend an air of luxury to the outfit, highlighting the rich pattern of the dress. There's a woman who knew what her public expected...

The same could be said for this pair: Zena and Phyllis Dare, a pair of Edwardian musical actresses. The Dare sisters were famous in their youth for musical and comedy roles, but continued on the stage up until the 1960s. Zena played the original Mrs Higgins, Professor Higgins' mother, in My Fair Lady on stage. Phyllis also had a long and varied career and the two of them died within 6 weeks of each other in 1975. This 'winter wonderland' postcard of the pair is from early in their career when they were still often cast together. It is a jaunty, fun image of two active, playful young ladies which absolutely fits with their image at that time.

Louise Cromwell Brooks (1911)

Good heavens above, there's some glamour for you. Mrs Brooks was the four-times-married Washington socialite who broke hearts in early twentieth-century America. Once considered one of the most beautiful women in Washington, she was also married to General MacArthur, whom General Purshing threatened to send to the Philippines if she married him. I now feel disappointed that Mr Walker was threatened with a dangerous mission if he married me. Possibly it was considered that marriage to me was dangerous enough...

Mrs Brooks and another frankly massive muff

Again, the size and quality of her accessories are a very ostentatious display of wealth and visible consumption of luxury. There is nothing else from her outfit to hint that it is cold enough for that amount of fur, so it's there so that the photographer can record how rich she was. Just in case we were wondering...

If you are after the last word in unusual luxury, a muff is just the way to display it, for example these delights...

Ostrich and silk!

Peacock!

Umm...seagull?

I'm guessing the last one, which dates from the end of the nineteenth century, is meant to be doves rather than seagulls but that is unfortunately what it resembles. If I'm honest I'm reminded of this Banksy piece...

Seagull Attack from Dismaland

I'll be kind and say It reminds me of Bjork in her swan dress...

Although I feel she was probably going more for an Anna-Pavlova-and-Jack-the-Swan vibe...

I appear to have wandered from the point, but you have to admit a far more humane way of wearing animals is for them to be alive and cuddled. Anyway, here's Anna Pavlova with a massive muff, obviously on Jack's day off...

Toasty! Anyway, to sum up this ramble, a muff is the perfect showcase for luxury. A muff is for people who are too posh for pockets, for people who feel the need to have one massive glove rather than two small gloves that are only good for peasants who still need to use their hands. You know you have made it when you get to shove your hands inside something the size of a badger while people open doors and fetch and carry for you. That, my friends, is living...

Today's pressie suggestion is a book that will enable you to knit a muff of your own so you too can swank about pretending you are famous...

I love Stephanie Dosen's knits and have a little deer hat I wear on a regular basis. She created this charming muff for her book...

Made of lots of tiny violet flowers stitched onto a green puff, it is adorable and cute without being too weird and so I think you could carry it off rather than looking a bit odd, which is always the danger with a modern muff (again, not a recommended Google search term).

Stephanie's book can be bought from Amazon, or her individual patterns can be purchased via Ravelry. If you knit or crochet, you are probably already a member of Ravelry but if not, get yourself over there. It is free to join and you get access to a whole world of patterns, tons of them free. I've been a member for a few years now and thoroughly recommend it.

I wonder if Lillie Langtry's coat was the inspiration for this: http://draculaclothing.com/purple-evil-princess-coat.html (it comes in other colours than purple and black; I just want it personally in that colour-scheme)

All I need to do is find a contemporary muff... I have capelets and shawls a plenty, but muffs are harder to find.

What's even worse is that muffs appear in winter-wear for the Japanese fashion/subculture of Lolita... which has nothing to do with the Nabokov novel or under-age girls, but sadly that's what the term "Lolita" is associated with in the west, so even though I know I could probably find one from a Japanese brand, I am NOT googling "Lolita muff"...